The Witch Of The Wilds
by ynmidk
Summary: When a young girl escapes her abusers and finds herself in the arms of the last two remaining coven witches the fate of the wizarding world is changed in a way none could have foreseen.
1. Reunion

**AN:** And another new story. Sue me. I'm Sirius.

Bad jokes aside, I really am excited about this one and I really really hope this will be received at least okay-ish as I want this to become big. It is heavily inspired by **Silently Watches' Black Princess/Queen- series**. If you haven't read this yet, please do. Jennifer Black's story is one of the best in the HP section of ff dot net.

You may find some similarities between this story and **SW's** series, but ultimately it is my own.

Now, the _**Warnings**_ : explicit language, explicit sexual situations between adults and minors/teenagers, explicit depictions of violence

Please leave your thoughts and constructive criticism and mention any glaring spelling/grammar mistakes. Enjoy!

Disclamer: I don't own whack.

* * *

Sirius Black had seen a lot of things in his still early life but when Amelia Bones sent him to Ireland to work with the local auror's office in investigating what was assumed to be the work of dark wizards and/or witches he was shocked at seeing the state of his Irish colleagues.

After exiting the floo he saw a lot of aurors rushing to and fro, parchments in hands, shouting at each other so they would be heard over the noise of the office.

"Damn…" He muttered to himself before he was greeted by a stocky, gruff looking man, his ginger hair shaved short to his scalp.

"Auror Black, I assume?"

Nodding, Sirius took his colleagues hand into a firm shake. "You assume correctly."

"The name's O'Byrne." The Irish introduces himself. "As you can see our collective arses are on fire."

Chuckling without humor, Sirius let his gaze sweep once more over the chaotic auror's office. "What exactly is going on?"

Nodding towards his desk, O'Byrne led Sirius away from the hustle and bustle and set down after offering the other chair to his guest.

"This whole shitshow began two years ago." O'Byrne began. "Some young couple. Minding their own business, taking a stroll in the Curraghchase Forest Park, what have you. Vanished."

Sirius' eyebrows rose at that. "Just like that?"

"Just like that. But shit like that happens all the time, right? People go somewhere and disappear. Unfortunate, but nothing too odd about it." The redheaded auror gave a nonchalant shrug. "Exactly a month late, some guy and his dog disappear in Curraghchase."

"Exactly a month?"

"To the day. A day later the dog is found, dead. Not a single clue about the guy though. But again, those things happen. This one was slightly weird but not completely unnatural, am I right?" Grinning darkly, he pulled out a photograph from his desk's drawer, sliding it over to Sirius. " _Exactly_ a month later a muggle found this."

"A circle of dirt?" Sirius asked, confusion evident in his voice.

"That's what we thought as well, at first. Take a closer look."

Sirius did as asked, his eyes narrowed in concentration as they scanned every inch of the muggle photograph. The quality was poor and he distinctly remembered how in muggle conspiracy sites on the internet- the single greatest thing ever invented in his humble opinion- people would complain about photographs like this, calling the cameras used to shoot them 'potato cams'.

But then his eyes caught something in one corner of the circle. "Someone was sloppy…" He mumbled to himself before looking up at his colleague. "That's a rune there, isn't it?"

"It definitely looks like it. Like the futhark rune _perthro_ to be exact. Occult abilities, feminine mysteries, fertility."

"So we might be looking at a ritual site here…"

"Pretty much the only lead in any direction we have had in two years."

Gaze still on the photograph, Sirius' scowl deepened. "If we are really dealing with something ritualistic…and if this really is connected to the missing people…"

"Then we are dealing with sacrificial rituals, yeah. The muggles talk about Witches of the Wilds." O'Byrne chuckled. "But in all seriousness…we need help. We are understaffed over here, underfunded. This is bigger than we can handle and I've complained about this since last year."

"I understand. How many more people have gone missing since that ritual site was found?" Sirius asked.

"Eighteen. The last one two weeks ago."

"Was it always two males and one female?"

O'Byrne's eyes narrowed slightly. "Yes…"

Smirking darkly, Sirius leaned forward slightly. "You see the pattern? Always a total of three victims. Always two male and one female. A total of twenty-one victims. I bet it was a total of seven rituals."

Nodding in understanding, the Irish muttered softly. "Significant magical numbers, a significance to the sex of the victims…"

"This is some serious shite you guys have to deal with here. Take me to that forest and let me have an up close look to the location. I doubt it, but maybe we'll find something." Sirius got up from his chair, O'Byrne following him. "At least I'll have followed my boss's orders to the letter with taking a look at this whole situation for myself, even if I don't think that that's really needed anymore."

* * *

A young girl's head perked up at the feeling of her and her family's wards being trespassed. Golden eyes narrowed and a growl escaped her throat in irritation.

 _It was only a matter of time,_ she thought to herself. _Unbelievable that Margaret of all people didn't clean up properly after our rituals._

Once she and her two sisters got wind of the fact that the first of their seven ritual sites set up for her full initiation to the small and only remaining Coven had been found, they had begun to be extra careful. Margaret had received a thorough chewing out, especially considering that she was always the one pressing upon her and Magdalene the importance of _not leaving evidence._

And yet, here they were: their haven, their forest being trespassed by magical law enforcement.

She looked over her shoulder at her two sisters, who both shared a glance at the disturbance but didn't seem too worried. "I am going to take a look at the trespassers."

Magdalene smiled at their youngest. "Be careful, sweetness."

Smiling in return, the young girl's form collapsed into itself as she shrank and changed into a crow. She crowed once before taking flight, vanishing between the trees.

It didn't take her too long to find a group of four men; one in a red robe, the other three wearing green robes.

She landed on a tree branch a few feet ahead from them and cocked her head. _Three are Irish aurors. The other…probably British. Would make sense at least._

The girl and her sisters did have to deal with the odd auror hunting them, investigating the cases of missing muggles and the occasional wizard and witch.

It came with what they were: the last of the last Coven Witches.

When she was still a child, Margaret told her about their kind.

 _Coven Witches,_ so Margaret said _, weren't necessarily out for world domination, like the Dark Lords of the past, but they did dabble in dark and primal, at times even black, magic. That was the reason why, while not exactly feared, they were avoided._

 _With the Covens only inhabiting witches, some of them did practice magic which could make use of the sensuality the female form possessed, creating sex magic in the process. It was raw and beautiful, channeling the power of such an intimate act, cleansing cursed land, fertilizing and rejuvenating dead crop._

 _One day, the witches of a coven in the Scottish highlands, close to a village, were looking for the daughter of one of theirs._

 _The daughter was young, not even ten yet, and usually played with the children of the village. The children didn't understand the wariness their parents felt towards the Covens, their innocent minds allowing them to ignore and overcome such issues._

 _One of the children's father, though, was more vocal in his opinions against the Covens than others and when he saw his son being close to the spawn of the she-devils he snapped._

 _The little girl, ever obedient, did as the Coven told her and would not raise her hands against the mundane man as he rushed at her and dragged her away. The other children froze in their fear and ran back to their homes, ignoring the cries of the girl._

 _The man screamed at her, hit her and told her he would show her what he would do to the devil's spawn bewitching his son. In the end he raped her and broke her arms and legs._

 _Not once did the girl raise her magic against the mundane man._

 _A day passed and finally the witches found the broken body of the girl, who succumbed to the pain wrought upon her. They all cried and the heartache of the loss of such a young one was felt in every Coven of the islands._

 _Mad with grief, the mother swore revenge upon the entire village but would not do so until she found a way to pervert the magic her kind used to keep the village's crops healthy. Her sisters, who felt the grief for their littlest as much as the mother did, never intervened._

 _So, one night the witch stole the man who violated her daughter from his bed and bound him. Once they were far enough from the village, she disrobed him and herself, conjured a twisted dagger made of nothing but dark smoke before carving the runes necessary into his stomach with it. Dipping her fingers in his blood, she painted runes onto her stomach right above her womb._

 _She then straddled his hips, his member prominent between her thighs despite the situation he found himself in, before she sank onto him and started to ride him, the smoky blade constantly hovering over his heart._

 _Once she felt him climax inside of her, her face contorted into a mad grin as she rammed the unnatural blade into his heart._

 _A blinding light, accompanied by a piercing shriek, consumed the man and hellish fires turned him into ash to be scattered by a freezing wind._

 _The witches hand pressed against her stomach as she_ _stumbled her way back towards the village and sat down onto the ground, her legs spread. She poured her magic into her womb, her body convulsing with pain as she gave birth to the creation of her sacrificial ritual. A shadow beast without a solid form crept out of her womb into this realm, it's glowing red eyes staring at it's mother._

" _Go," she said. "Destroy them."_

 _The eldritch beast obeyed it's mother and wreaked havoc upon the village. It tore into young and old, blood and gore soon spread throughout. The screams and cries of horror and fear filled the night sky as the witch stared at the destruction in front of her before she rose onto shaky legs and returned to her Coven, leaving the mundanes at the mercy of the manifestation of her anger and hate._

 _It was after news of this incident spread that the 'light' wizards and witches decided that Covens were too dangerous to exist. Over the following fifty years, up to the early 1900s the light exterminated every Coven and every witch it entailed._

 _Except for Margaret and Magdalene, who, as young as they were, managed to hide from the light as their sisters and mothers were slaughtered._

The young girl never forgot this story because of the hypocrisy in it. The magical people, in her opinion, should build a united front. When her foremothers needed their fellow magical people they were left abandoned with their grief. Yet when they retaliated- and rightly so- they were exterminated and destroyed like vermin. The light did not avenge the loss of a magical child but the destruction of those who ignored the cries of said child.

It made her angry. She wondered if her foremothers felt like she did now; hiding from wizards and witches who claimed they were good yet crushed their own kind under their feet when they felt like it. Like now they would find themselves in situations when they drew too much attention on themselves. She knew that she and her sisters would soon have to move their location.

She wondered if they could go to Dyfnant Forest in Wales this time. She enjoyed the late night swims in close by Lake Vyrnwy.

Shaking her crow head, she returned her attention back to the four men below her.

Once the group of aurors closed in on her position, she flew a bit closer to listen in on the conversation that was going on.

"- noble house?"

The lone auror with the red robe snorted. "I don't give a damn about that crap. I got kicked out when I was sixteen and removed from the family tree, all because I didn't exactly agree with all that blood purity nonsense."

"Well, good on you I suppose."

"Auror Black, Sir, aren't you related to the Boy-Who-Lived in some way? I remember reading about it when he started his first Hogwarts year I think." One of the other two Irish aurors asked.

That question made the young Coven witch start and a startled sound escaped her beak, but none of the men paid it any heed, if they even heard it.

"I actually am." Black answered with no small hint of pride in his voice. "I'm his godfather. His parents and I went to Hogwarts together."

"I also read about the girl…"

"Single greatest mistake any of us did…" Black's face and voice looked as drained as they did youthful when talking about his godson. "You understand if I don't want to go into any details about the whole story, but I have a missing-poster with me, charmed to look like how she should…could? Be looking now." He fished inside his robes for said poster. "We have no idea where she is, have been looking for years…"

"You know she could be-"

"As long as there's no body there's hope. There it is." Black was about to hand the man the poster when a black blur rushed at him with a sharp crow and snatched the poster from his hands, disappearing from sight a moment later.

* * *

A crow landed roughly in front of an old hut, startling two witches who were busy cleaning human bones. Morphing back into her human form, the golden-eyed girl took the poster from her mouth into her hands and gazed at it.

She could tell that the girl smiling back at her from the black and white poster was actually her. There, of course, were some irregularities. For instance, her lips were a bit fuller, her eyebrows were thinner and her hair was not loose and spilling beyond her shoulders like in the picture but bound to a messy bun with dark crow feathers decorating it.

And then there were her eyes. They were not green as stated; they were golden.

"Morrigan?" Magdalene's soft voice forced her gaze away from the poster. "Are you alright, sweetness?"

"They are looking for me."

"Who? The trespassers?"

"No." Morrigan denied, before handing Magdalene the poster.

Taking it from their youngest, Magdalene looked at it before smiling sadly. "We knew this would reach you sooner or later."

"So you were aware?"

"We have been for a while."

Pulling her fur garb, which was decorated with various small bones and dark feathers, tighter around her frame, she curled the toes of her bare feet into the dirt, a frown marring her soft features. "While I do not appreciate you keeping this from me, it ultimately does not matter." Her frown softened again as she looked at her two sisters. "You are my family after all. You were my mothers when I needed you to be and my sisters the rest of the time."

"And we have done a splendid job in raising you, if I dare say so myself." Margaret smirked, causing the raven-haired young witch to roll her eyes.

"Me being a delight had nothing to do with it, of course."

"Of course not." Margaret, the blonde of the trio, closed the distance to Morrigan, cupping her cheek before pulling her into an embrace. "Do you remember when we told you about what the cursed Light did to our kind?"

Nodding her head as she leaned into her sister's embrace, Morrigan's voice was barely above a whisper. "Yes."

The blonde brushed a loose raven lock behind Morrigan's ear as she continued. "Do you remember when we told you about our plans of retaliation?"

Shoulders sagging in defeat, Morrigan nodded again.

"Sweetness." Magdalene joined them, her ginger hair billowing behind her in the wind, as she put a hand on their youngest back. "We know you don't want to. But we all know that you are the only one who can. Margaret and I are nobodies in today's magical culture. But you…"

"I am the missing daughter of the Potters." The young witch finished with hardness in her voice.

For all she knew, the 'missing daughter of the Potters was dead. She died when she was dropped off and abandoned at the hands of magic hating mundanes, abused and starved. She died when her cries for her mother remained unheard and left her voice broken. She died when not a single one of the neighbors wondered why a young girl would scream in pain as a belt left her back bloodied and scarred.

In her blood she may still be the missing daughter, but in her heart and soul and very core she was someone entirely different now; someone born from the broken bones and spilled blood of an abandoned girl.

Blood, in the end, proved itself to not be thicker than water.

Retracting herself from the hug, she huffed, then sighed. "I really don't want to leave."

"We don't want you to leave either. But you…you have a place there you need to reclaim." Magdalene explained, something she did so many times. "This is as good an opportunity as any to do so now." Closing the distance to Morrigan once more, she placed a hand on the young witch's shoulder. "Your initiation is completed, you know all the magic you should at your age. You know what your body is capable of." At Morrigan's self-satisfied smirk Magdalene could only roll her eyes. "You are as ready as you can be. Go back to the society you were born into. Reclaim your place. Destroy them from the inside. Avenge our foremothers."

" _Fine_." The raven-haired witch sighed. "Let me get my wand and I'll leave already, since you _obviously_ want me gone so badly."

"Teenage drama." Magdalene chuckled.

Her sister wrapped an arm over her shoulder and sighed wistfully. "Unbelievable, but I'll miss it once she has left."

"Me too, Margie. Me too."

* * *

With a bang Morrigan appeared in an alley between two stores of what Margaret dubbed 'Diagon Alley'. Supposedly it was a sort of main shopping area of the magical community and where most magical items where to be found.

Dressed only in a loose black dress- Magdalene said that her fur garb with the bones and feathers would stand out too much- she made her way tentatively to the main shopping area, wincing at the glaring colors, loud noises and the overall chaos. She already missed the forests.

But they definitely could forget going back to Curraghchase anytime soon. Once she was ready to leave, she remained a bit longer with her sisters to help them cleaning up their hideout, reinforce their wards and remove any other evidence that they were ever there. After they were done, Maggie showed her where she needed to go, providing the mental pictures and the goal she needed to be successful in her instant travel. Then, she bid goodbye to her sisters.

Now she was in a strange place with stranger people. It had been such a long time since she had to interact with anyone other than Maggie and Margie. Even when she talked to sacrifices it felt more like she was talking _at_ them. In the end, they were nothing more than sacrifices. It made no sense to chat with them, to grow attached to them in any way. The end result would always be the same: they die and she and her sisters grow stronger, their wards live longer, Maggie and Margie remain young.

But now, she had to talk to people.

Frowning at someone bumping into her, she continued her aimless walk. She had no idea where to go, whom to talk to. Her head swiveled back and forth, eyeing a book store, then an apothecary, a shop that sold broomsticks of all things.

Then her eye caught a poster and she immediately made a beeline for it. Removing it from the broomstick shop's door, she moved to the side and looked at her face smiling back at her.

Sighing and steeling herself, she entered the shop and tried to make out the owner. Once she thought she found him at the back, polishing a broom before placing it back on the sale shelf, the young witch moved towards him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, sir. Could you tell me where I can find the people who made these posters?" She held it out for him to see.

The owner first looked at her then at the poster and back at her, his face changing from a kind smile to utter shock in an instant.

"By Merlin…" He gasped, putting a hand over his chest.

* * *

Morrigan was sitting on an uncomfortable bench after the shop owner led her to a dingy pub where he spoke with a balding old man. Said man eyed her curiously, then gave a sharp nod before he went to the fireplace, threw some powder in it and vanished in green flames.

The shop owner of the broomstick store joined her at the bench she was sitting at. "Miss, uh, Potter? Tom just went to inform your parents that you are here. He provided you a room upstairs for some privacy. I need to return to my shop, but wish you the best of luck." Sliding a key with a number engraved in it towards her, he got back up on his feet. "Your parents will be really happy that you have found your way back." He gave her a kind smile, which she returned with a fake one of her own. Waiting until he left, she took the key and went upstairs, ignoring the curious looks she received from the various patrons sitting around and nursing their drinks.

Once she reached the appropriate room, she unlocked the door and entered, making her way towards a bed and lying down on it. It wasn't particularly comfortable but she wouldn't sleep her anyways.

No, she would return to those who abandoned her. Even after Magdalene and Margaret told her so many times just _why_ she had to do this it still didn't make it any better. She understood, she truly did, but who would want to live with the people who gave her to those dreadful people, robbing her of the innocence her childhood should have consisted of?

What made all of this even worse was the fact that the woman giving birth to her and the woman she was forced to live with before she 'ran away' were related. She didn't know the reasoning behind her birthmother's actions and she didn't really care. At the end of the day, the one who suffered was a little girl and that girl suffered from the age of one to the age of six.

But she needed them. As unfortunate as it was, she needed them. She didn't know much about today's society's build-up. Magdalene and Margaret told and taught her what they could, but one could only learn so much without being in the thick of things. She knew about the conflict of blood-purists and the liberals, she knew that the governing body, the Ministry of Magic, was the heart of the magical society and the general work place of most of the wizards and witches. She knew that the Potters were a very respected Light family who fought against the last Dark Lord and whose son- her brother- survived a curse that should have killed him, somehow destroying the Dark Lord in the process.

Hasty steps pulled her out of her thoughts and she sat up warily. The door to her room was carefully opened and a bespectacled head with messy black hair peeked inside before retreating. She heard a woman's frantic whispers and the muttering of a man, before a sole person seemed to be going back downstairs.

Her heart was beating frantically, her breathing labored as the door opened again and this time there was a red-haired woman- she preferred Maggie's coloring- with the black haired man. The woman looked teary eyed as did the man, but they both had the same hint of confusion written all over their faces.

 _Pretty sure it's my eyes,_ the teen thought to herself.

"Violet?" The woman asked softly.

Huffing in annoyance, the girl raised her chin slightly. "I distinctly remember that being my birth-name, but considering that I _don't_ remember ever being addressed as such…I took a different name, given to me by my savior. It's Morrigan now."

That had them halt their movements towards her and she was glad. Morrigan was sure they wanted to hug her and cry all over her; things she could really do without.

"Morrigan? If that's- if that's what you want your name to be, it's okay." The woman told her shakily.

The conversation stopped, followed by an awkward silence, neither really knowing what to say.

"Vi- _Morrigan_ …" The man corrected himself and she could feel that he didn't really like the name. "How did you find out about us looking for you? We've been looking for years! Where were you all this time?"

Her eyes burned with intense fury at that question. "Where was _I_ all this time? Where were _you_ all this time?! That is the better question!" She snarled at him. "Where were you when I screamed for you, when I was hit and starved?! Where were you when I was bleeding at the hands of _your family_?!" She lowered her voice again after shouting the last question at the woman, who was now crying silently after she collapsed onto an unoccupied chair. "But, to answer your question: while you probably still basked in the fame of your son I was nursed back to health after I wished myself away from that… _cupboard_ …and my accidental magic granted it to me. I was starved, my magical core was basically empty and my back was inflamed. The first words I told my savior after she found me was _'I want to die'_. I was six years old. From then on I was sheltered and cared for by her, the first person whose touches were gentle and loving instead of cruel and meant to hurt. I had no reason to leave. Does this answer your question?"

None of the things she said were lies and she remembered what an angry child she was at first once she realized that Margaret had saved her, but the dedication and energy both Margie and Maggie put into her care was enough to make her trust them. She was so starved for the motherly love they both showed her.

"We are so sorry!" The woman cried, her sobs wrecking her body but doing nothing to soften Morrigan's heart. "We never meant to hurt you!"

"But you did."

"All we wanted was for you to have as normal a childhood as possible." The man began to explain. "With Harry- your brother- surviving the killing curse and defeating You-Know-Who in the process there would be so much attention on such a young child…we thought if we gave you a few years away from all that we'd give at least one of our children a chance to a normal childhood…"

"And the best family for that was the family of your magic-hating sister?" She turned her attention to the woman. "And you never thought of checking in on me?" She waited for an answer but there was none.

"We made mistakes," the man said, carefully weighing his words, "we are more than aware. But we would like to at least…have a chance to make it up to you."

"And how do you plan on doing that?"

"In giving you a home and a chance to experience Hogwarts." The woman answered, looking at her pleadingly. "Please, please come home with us! I just…I want our family to be whole again…"

Groaning internally, she turned her gaze away from them. She already had a family and her education in magic went already deeper than what this supposed school could ever hope to offer, but she knew she had to see this through. It was a duty bestowed upon her and she would see this through; for her real family and for her foremothers.

Sighing dramatically, she accepted their offer. "It's not like I have much of a choice. If the woman who saved me were still alive I would not be here in the first place." As much as she loved Maggie and Margie and as much as they loved her, no one could say that they were really goodhearted people. Lying and manipulating came as easy to the two elder Coven witches as breathing and they made sure that Morrigan could use every and all tools she had to be as good at it as they were- and more.

They looked torn between ecstatic and awkward as the man was the first to react. "I'm sorry to hear that. I would have loved to thank her for taking care of you while we couldn't."

" _Wouldn't._ While you _wouldn't_." She would not allow them to weasel out of this.

"Yeah, right, uh…sorry. Anyways…let's get you home."


	2. The Potter's Home

**AN:** Hi and welcome back to this story. To clear a few things up: yes, a couple or so things are inspired from Dragon Age (the title obviously) but ultimately it's just very superficial things. Not even the name Morrigan was inspired from the game, that's just a happy coincidence. Anyways, this chapter was, I admit, a huge struggle. I hope once I get into the gist of this story it flows easier and becomes more interesting for you readers.

 **Fevi:** Thanks for the review and the encouragement!

* * *

"Do you know how to use floo?" James asked the teenager.

Morrigan cocked her head to the side in confusion. "No. What is that?"

"It is a means of travel. You throw floo powder into a fireplace and enter the enchanted fire after stating your destination in a loud and clear voice." Lily explained with a soft smile.

Morrigan and her birth parents were sitting downstairs at a slightly isolated table, having an early lunch. The teen's parents figured that giving her a bit more time before introducing her to her twin brother and her new home would ease her into the new life awaiting her.

It also gave the two parents more time to get to know the teen a bit more, though she was a lot more secretive than they expected.

"That sounds like a very unnecessarily inconvenient way to travel, if I am honest. It's so much easier to just teleport wherever you want." The teen shrugged.

"Teleport? You mean apparate? You can apparate?" Lily's eyebrows vanished under her fringe.

"Never heard that term before, but if it means to instantly appear at a certain location then yes, I can do that."

"How-?"

"Margie taught me."

"Margie was…?" James asked, though he was sure he knew the answer.

"The woman who saved me, nursed me back to health, fed and loved me, taught me magic." Glancing at Lily, Morrigan hid a sneer threatening to appear on her face at the heartbroken and guilty look on the redheaded woman.

"That's…an unusual thing to teach a young child…" James frowned.

Waving her hand dismissively, Morrigan leaned back on the bench, folding her hands over her flat stomach. "Your worry is unwelcome. I was an attentive and smart student, a very quick learner."

"And I'm not denying that," James held up his hands in apology, "but you are just thirteen now and you would not be taught apparation until you are seventeen years old!"

"So? Nothing happened. Let it go already." Morrigan rolled her eyes.

Rubbing his face in frustration, James let out a sigh. "Fine. Are there any other unorthodox things you have been taught that we should know about?"

"Shapeshifting, maybe."

"So you are an animagus too?" Lily asked weakly, her heart throbbing wildly at the thought of her daughter practicing magics way above of what she should know and learn at her age.

"No. As far as I've been told an animagus learns to take the form of his or her spirit animal which is an impressive skill in itself, no doubt. A shapeshifter though learns to take the form of various different animals, which I find a lot more practical but so much harder to master."

"Isn't that considered…a dark art?" James asked warily.

Blinking in surprise before letting out a snort, Morrigan shook her head. "Utterly ridiculous. All I do is change into animals." What neither Lily nor James needed to know though was that she dabbled into magics that would make their skins crawl; not to mention the fact that, in certain circles, she would be considered a serial killer. At age thirteen.

"We'll talk about that later." James said in a serious tone. "For now, let's get you home."

* * *

Floo was definitely not something she would enjoy doing again. It was a messy ride as the constant rotation of her body made her dizzy and the soot on her skin and dress made her uncomfortable.

"We could have just teleported," she muttered angrily, "but _noooo_ , it just had to be this floo-nonsense."

"I take it you are not fond of travelling this way?" James chuckled in good humor.

"No, I'm not." Looking around, Morrigan took in her surroundings; a bright living room with comfortable looking couches and a contraption which she assumed was of mundane origin, decorated with flowers and magical pictures. She let out an audible sigh as her shoulders slumped.

"What do you think?" Lily asked her daughter. The redhead wanted to put a hand on her daughter's shoulder but restrained herself. She had a feeling that Morrigan was still coming to terms with all those changes in her life and that she was still struggling to trust James and her; they got reunited mere hours earlier after all.

"I miss the forests." Morrigan admitted. "I hope you have a big garden at least. I love the feeling of soil and grass under my feet."

"We do." Lily answered brightly. "In fact, your brother should be outside with his friends. We should go and meet them."

"Might as well go and meet the reason I got dumped at the filth that happens to be your sister."

"I…it's-" Lily stuttered, looking shocked and unsure what to say.

"Sweety, it…it wasn't that way. We honestly…we never meant for you to-"

Looking annoyed, Morrigan put a hand up to stop James' rambling. "First of all, we are still very far away from you addressing me with pet names. Second, no matter how you twist and turn this whole thing…the fact remains that I wished to die when I was six years old while my brother got spoiled."

"I…we are sorry. We really are. All we want is a chance to…be a whole family again." Lily's eyes got misty again as her lower lip trembled.

"And a chance you get. Nothing more, nothing less. Margie I love… _loved_ ," she corrected herself, still struggling with that lie, "with all my heart because she was my family. What _you_ will eventually become…we will see."

In all honesty, Morrigan knew that if it came down to it and she had to kill either of the Potters- be it simple murder or be it for a sacrificial ritual- she would not hesitate. Despite all her talk about giving chances and whatnot, she knew there was none. She hated this family. She hated the parents that abandoned her, she hated her brother for not dying when he should have and she hated their alignment to the light; the liberals and idealists that exterminated her real family those many years ago. She may only just have become a fully fledged Coven witch but she felt the love and pride of all her murdered foremothers with every breath she took; such was the intensity of a Coven's bond. It never died.

"That's…fair enough I suppose." Lily answered softly, though the determination to make amends was obvious in her green eyes.

"It is as fair as it gets. Anyways, tell me about those friends you mentioned earlier."

Glad about the change of topics, James jumped straight in as they made their way to the kitchen. "Well, for starters, there is Neville. He is Harry's godbrother and they have a very strong bond. Neville was raised by his grandmother since his parents…couldn't because of what happened to them during the war. He is a good boy." James paused for a moment before continuing. "Then there is Ron, Harry's best friend. Very loyal and they went through a lot of trouble together. He is kind of brash, to be honest, not exactly a gentleman but I couldn't ask for a better friend for any children of mine. Last but not least, there's Hermione. She's muggleborn and the brains of the group."

"Definitely." Lily chuckled with her husband.

"The boys would be lost without her. She's said to be the brightest witch of her year, maybe even her generation."

"Impressive." Morrigan admitted, though she had to wonder just which type of smart this Hermione was: book smart or naturally smart?

From the kitchen Morrigan could see outside into the garden and couldn't help but smile as she stepped out and let her feet feel the grass and earth. It wasn't quite the familiarity she felt every time she stepped out of their huts but it was the closest she could get.

Lily and James exchanged hopeful smiles themselves at the first sign of any form of joy their daughter had just shown.

"Mum! Dad!" A young boy with messy black hair landed in front of the trio, getting off his broom in one smooth motion, quickly followed by two more boys and a girl with a book in her hand.

Morrigan eyed the group in front of her not without curiosity and barely kept herself from snorting at the poorly hidden glances the ginger boy gave her young breasts.

"Are you-? Is that-?" Her brother eyes darted from her to their parents and back.

"Kids, would you mind giving us a few moments of privacy please?" Lily asked the group of teenagers who hovered behind Harry, their curiosity obvious.

Blushing, they all excused themselves before entering the house, giving the newly reunited family some time alone.

James led them towards the garden table before they all sat down, Morrigan across from her brother.

"So…Harry, this is your twin sister, Morrigan."

Harry's brows furrowed in confusion at the name. "I thought your name was-"

"It _was_ Violet. But Margie- my caretaker if you will- gave me a new name since I said I hate my name when she asked me."

"And why Morrigan, if I may ask?" Lily asked tentatively. It was a question that gnawed at her the whole day.

"Well, depending if you pronounce it Morrígan or Mórrígan it can either mean _phantom queen_ or _great queen_. The Morrígan is a figure of Irish mythology; a goddess of war, if you will, that could symbolize a particular soldiers death or could influence the outcome of war by appearing as a crow in battle, putting fear or courage in the soldiers hearts. When Margie explained to me the meaning of the name I accepted it because I liked it." The girl shrugged. "There's even a place in County Meath called _Dá Chich na Morrigna_." Morrigan added with a chuckle.

"What does that mean?" Harry asked, confusion all over his face; though his parent's didn't fare better.

"Two breasts of the Mórrígan."

"Oh." Harry blushed red as his father coughed into his fist to hide his discomfort.

Lily opted to change the topic instead. "What about your eyes? I remember them being green…"

"It was a mistake when shapeshifting into a vixen. When changing back I couldn't change my eye color. At least I could change the shape of my pupils though."

"You are an animagus?!" Harry asked excitedly, completely ignoring the rest of the story.

Lily on the other hand paled at the thought of her daughter and such a mishap during such complex magics. "What if it had been something else?! Like your head?!"

"Well, it wasn't. There's no use for 'ifs' and 'buts'. Any more questions?"

"Do you have a wand?" James asked. "We will have to owl Hogwarts to get someone down here to evaluate your education and at which year you can start. We may have to tutor you to get you up to speed."

"I doubt that will be necessary. And yes, I do in fact have a wand." While wands weren't her favorite foci she knew she had to have one with her the for as long as she needed to be part of this society. Staffs, which the teen actually preferred to wands, were much more powerful foci because of the 'cores' used; cores being decorations in the case of staffs. Those ranged from powerful gems to bones of both humans and animals. If bones remained after some rituals Margie, Maggie and she would keep and clean them in case the ones on their respective staffs got damaged. Of course she couldn't tell them any of that.

Pulling out her wand, Morrigan showed it to her family. "Hornbeam, dragon heartstring, ten and a half inches."

"Where'd you get it?"

"You would have to ask Margie about that since she gave it to me for my eighth birthday."

" _That_ we can't do anymore…" James muttered.

"Well, I suppose we should give you children some time to get to know each other. I'll prepare something to snack." Lily offered as she got up and allowed Harry's friends back outside.

"That'd be great, mum!" Harry called out before making room for his friends to join them on the table. "Guys…my twin sister, Morrigan." Harry introduced her with a smile. "Morrigan, these are my friends Neville, Ron and Hermione."

"A pleasure." It really wasn't, but the Coven witch had to keep up appearances at least for now.

"So, uh, do you like Quidditch?" Ron blurted out before the tips of his ears turned red.

Morrigan just furrowed her brows in confusion, having never heard that term before. "What is that?"

"It's the main sports of the magical world-"

"You lost me at 'sports'. I'd rather just lounge in the sun with a good book."

Her answer seemed to have disappointed all the boys, but Hermione was beaming. "What do you like to read?"

Morrigan smiled enigmatically. "Anything that helps broadening my knowledge."

* * *

It was nighttime now and Morrigan was lying wide awake in her new bed. Her first day with her new family, with her birth-family, had now passed. It was not something she ever thought about but with Margaret's and Madgalene's tutelage since they saved her and the way they groomed her for this day she always knew deep down that ultimately this day would come.

And come it did.

She didn't like these people. To her, they weren't her family; they were strangers who gave birth to her and then forgot about her. That was the extend of any parentage she received from the Potters. Her brother genuinely seemed to want to bond with her but even _if_ she wanted to- which she didn't- it would never work. There was no room for the mascot of the light for what she would eventually achieve, for what she and her _true_ , _real_ sisters would eventually achieve.

The last remaining Coven was her real home now. A home she had to leave behind for this mission. Morrigan knew, as Maggie and Margie had drilled it into her so many times, that this was a do-or-die mission. If she was successful, it could herald the return of Covens but if she wasn't then she and her sisters would surely die- one way or another.

She got up from her bed and left her room, taking the stairs to walk down and into the kitchen before leaving for the outside.

As her bare feet touched the grass once more it felt like home again. Even as she slept in huts it still had nature in it; the earthy smell and wooden smell, the bonfires outside, the skinned animals that would fill their bellies. Here, it was all bricks and stones and artificial scents. It felt wrong and she felt deprived of the security nature gave her. In many ways, her first day made her feel robbed of things that became so commonplace in her life.

There were days when she would spend hours outside, shapeshifting into her crow form and soaring through the sky. It was a kind of freedom she would not really have here and she was sure that it would be almost impossible to do those kind of things in Hogwarts without raising questions that she didn't want to answer.

It was a struggle.

* * *

Over the next week the struggle changed slowly but surely changed into routine. Her return was kept on the down low so the press didn't know yet, which was perfectly fine with her but another, more immediate matter needed to be solved first anyways.

As all her belongings were left with her sisters Morrigan was forced to shop for clothing with Lily. In the end she endured, even when the results of her abuse in form of her scars were revealed to Lily. With a stony expression and cold eyes she ignored the guilt-ridden look on her birth-mothers face.

Neither the clothing of the mundane nor the clothing of the magical folk gave her the comfort her fur-garb gave her, yet it was a necessity. Now wearing a summer dress and sandals she actually had to admit that she looked very gorgeous as she moved her body this way and that, eyeing herself in the mirror in her room.

"Maybe I can get used to the clothing at least…" She muttered to herself before her father called her downstairs.

Grabbing her wand with a sigh, she made her way downstairs only to stop halfway as her father and an elder woman waited for her at the bottom of the stairs. "Morrigan, this is Professor McGonagall. She's the deputy headmistress of Hogwarts and the teacher for transfiguration.

"I see. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Professor."

"Likewise, Ms. Potter. I am here to evaluate the state of your education. Your father told me you already own a wand?"

"Yes."

"Let us go to the living room then."

Following the two adults, Morrigan entered the living room last and rolled her eyes at her mother and brother sitting there.

The professor conjured a cup and set it down on the table in the middle of the room. "We will start with charms, Ms. Potter. Please levitate the cup."

After fifteen minutes, the Professor nodded in approval. "Very well, Ms. Potter. You will be accepted at the same year as your brother, meaning fourth year. The letter with all the requirements for your fourth year will come with your brother's. I am curious about one thing though, if you don't mind."

"I don't."

"You have not used a single spell's name or movement."

Morrigan just shrugged. "My caretaker never taught me any of those. She always said that those would just give away what I wanted to cast."

"I see. Well then, I suppose we are done for today."

"You should stay for a tea, Minerva." Lily offered but the Professor declined.

"Thank you for the offer, Lily, but unfortunately I still have a lot of other business to attend to." Turning towards the two Potter children, she gave them a rare but small smile. "I will see you two at Hogwarts. And it is good to see you safe and sound, Ms. Potter."

A moment later she vanished in green flames.

"I wonder what house you will get into." James thought out loud, his excitement evident. "But it's not really a question, is it? You are a Potter after all. Definitely a Gryffindor."

"From what I've read, Ravenclaw seems to suit me better. It is all about knowledge and intellect there."

"Whatever it will be, we will be proud of you." Lily threw in, taking the diplomatic approach.

"I'm sure."

"Anyways, I have to go now. Sirius just returned from Ireland. I'm curious what he's found out so far." James said, before kissing his wife and disappearing in the floo.

"Who is Sirius?"

Lily answered for her husband. "He's Harry's godfather and your father's best friend.

Quickly masking the realization dawning on her face, Morrigan just smiled and nodded. "Can't wait to meet him then." _To find out what he found out._


	3. Life With The Potters

**AN:** This Chapter was definitely easier to write, but again is a bit short. I usually write around 5k words per chapter and hope to get back up there with the coming chapters.

 **Sandel:** Thanks for the review and I absolutely understand. Unfortunately I can't promise you regular updates. University takes up a lot of time as one example. I still hope to see you around once this story develops! And a happy new year to you too!

 **jh831:** Morrigan was groomed for 7 years to lie and manipulate after all. Margie and Maggie do love her and adopted her into their Coven but ultimately what they want is revenge and for that they found in Morrigan the greatest weapon and key. Morrigan didn't just learn spells from them. As for friendships in Hogwarts…Morrigan already is not too fond of Gryffindors and what they stand for. :)

* * *

Lounging outside on an hammock, Morrigan was concentrating on the book she was reading while her brother and his ginger hangers-on were darting this way and that trying to catch a golden winged ball on their brooms. Her brother, she had to admit begrudgingly, was certainly a talented flyer though she had to wonder who in the world ever thought that straddling a broom like that would be comfortable.

No, if she ever wanted to fly she would just shapeshift.

"What are you reading?"

Looking up from her book to her side, the teen saw her mother hovering a bit next to her, very obviously trying to chat with her and bond.

Over the past days she did this several times and each time Morrigan indulged the woman a bit more in pretense of opening up though _when_ it would come down to the real personal stuff- and it definitely would at some point- she would shut down the conversation instantly. As annoying as those attempts at small talk were though, they ultimately were harmless and kept them from trying to have one-on-one talks with her about how they were worried because she closed herself off from her family and whatnot.

"One of the books we bought when you took me shopping, _stair na draíochta ársa gairme_."

Lily, her face a mixture of confusion and being impressed, took the book and read the title before leafing through it, her eyebrows hiding themselves under her fringe. "If I had to take a guess I'd have to say this is Irish?"

"Yes."

"So, you speak Irish?"

"Rwy'n siarad Cymraeg hefyd."

"Excuse me...what?"

Smirking, Morrigan waved her hand dismissively. "It simply means 'I speak Welsh too'. Margie always used to say that the Welsh and Irish language had deep roots in our magic history and that every magical child should at least know the basics of those languages and that it's a shame how people are forgetting our ancient languages. After years of reading her books I tend to agree with her."

"Oh? What were her books about?"

"I doubt you would approve." Morrigan admitted. "Tell me something: from what Margie always told me, there was some sort of...war or something going on between 'the light' and 'the dark'. I don't even care what that war was about, I'm just curious what exactly their positions were. I mean, the Potters are infamous for being traditionally very 'light'. So, just _what exactly_ does being 'light' and 'dark' mean to _you_?" The teen asked, eyeing her birth-mother curiously while still lying comfortably on the hammock.

"Well, for starters dark witches and wizards are usually blood purists who don't mind using the unforgivable curses...you know what they are?"

"Yes."

"So, their position during the war was all about blood purity. Muggleborns and muggles in general should all be whiped out from the face of earth. The light, to put it simply, worked and fought against that."

"Does the light mingle with the mundain?"

"Mundain?" Lily asked, confused.

Waving her hands impatiently, Morrigan explained. "You know, non-magical people...the ones you call muggle."

"Oh, alright. Uh, it depends on your definition of mingle I suppose...I mean for me as a muggleborn witch it obviously is some sort of mingling, but generally I would say that the magical world has adopted a lot of muggle traditions and holidays...Halloween and Christmas for instance."

Nodding, Morrigan adopted a thoughtful look on her face, as she folded her hands over her stomach and looked up, her eye catching a robin perching on a branch on the tree.

"Did you...never celebrate Christmas?" Lily asked her daughter tentatively.

"No. Margie was a witch so we celerated what was right and not what was...'introduced' into our culture." Morrigan answered as she suddenly sat up, her face betraying her anger. "We honored her ancestors on Samhain and celebrated the sun's rebirth on Yule! Why would our culture inherit traditions that mean nothing to us?"

Lily couldn't help but be shocked at her daughter's admission. What shocked her even more than the knowledge that her very own child was apparently raised by a dark witch was that she was groomed into a rigid traditionalist who rejects anything with muggle origin. "You shouldn't talk like that!" The redheaded woman finally scolded her daughter.

"And why is that? Does me being a practitioner of our centuries old traditions make me 'dark'?" The teen asked, pronouncing the last word mockingly.

"Well...yes!"

"Complete and utter nonsense." Morrigan spat out. "Who is that fool who decided what 'light' and 'dark' is anyways?"

"Well, a lot of that was influenced by Professor Dumbledore..."

"So, one person just decides 'this is bad!' and a whole community follows and they force our whole culture to be overturned because of said one person?"

"I..." Lily hated to admit it and, even though she still disliked the _old ways_ and the fact that her daughter was apparently a passionate practionor of those ways, that Morrigan _did_ have a point...to some extend. "I admit, you may not be entirely wrong in that regard, but still...those... _traditions_...are dead and are only celebrated by very very dark houses, like the Malfoys and the Blacks when they were not basically extinct."

"I don't give a damn. I will continue to at least keep celebrating Samhain and Yule and I refuse to celebrate mundain holidays that have nothing to do with magic. You can complain all you want or you can just stay out of my way- it won't change anything. If it bothers you so much you can just stay out of my way when Samhain and Yule arrive."

With that, the young teen stomped away, forgetting her book and leaving her mother standing as she watched after her, worrying her lips.

* * *

"Where is my goddaughter?!" A booming voice rocked Morrigan from her nap.

After her _discussion_ with her mother she decided that staying out of the way of everyone and just succumb to sleep's sweet embrace was the way to go but after looking at the clock and seeing that she merely slept for half an hour. Grumbling in annoyance and running her fingers through her dark tresses before setting her hair up in a messy bun she went downstairs to see who the person was that roused her from her nap.

Upon seeing who it was her mind raced with possible ways to approach how much this Sirius person found out in Curraghchase. "You must be Sirius."

"I always am, my beautiful goddaughter!" He reached out to hug her but she quickly sidestepped that one.

"No hugs, kisses, petnames or whatever else. I am not comfortable with any of that."

"Oh...alright, I understand." Sirius nodded in acceptance. "I assume your mother is outside?"

"Last I saw her, yes. Follow me."

She accompanied her godfather outside into the garden and answered his questions in the same manner she answered them when they were asked by the rest of her family. Soon enough the young witch spotted her mother lying on the hammock reading the book she forgot outside, or at least trying to. "I thought you can't speak Irish?"

Looking up from the hammock, Lily smiled at seeing both her daughter and her husband's best friend. "Sirius! How are you?" She asked as she got up and gave him a hug. "And to answer your question," the redhead continued as she looked at Morrigan, "I can't but I figured I could still give it a shot."

"I'm good, Lils, thanks. Things are a bit stressful right now as some people are being shifted over to Ireland, me included, to help the local aurors there with what's going on there."

 _Thanks for the opening,_ Morrigan thought to herself as she gladly took it. "What is going on there, if I may ask?"

"You may ask, honey, but I can't answer." Sirius grinned at her, ignoring the flash of annoyance passing through her features at the pet name. "All I can say is that we spent the past weeks searching a forest and found wards unlike anything we have ever seen."

 _Damn it!_ "How did you find it?"

" _That_ I really can't tell you...it...wasn't nice." Sirius shuddered.

"Come now, Morrigan, stop pestering Sirius about things he can't talk about."

" _Fine_." The teen answered as she impatiently waited for nighttime to come so she could teleport to her sisters.

* * *

The moon was the only source of light available when she landed a good three miles away from the hut, just at the edge of their wards. Ariundle Forest was at the top five of her favorite locations, north to Drumnatorran in western Scotland. She knelt into the dirt and used her wand to slice a finger open before letting the blood drop onto the soil. She then looked ahead and spoke into the night. " _Tha mise nam fear agad fhèin, peathraichean! Leig leam a dhol seachad_."

The ward flickered and she got back up to her feet before shifting into her crow form. In a mere more moments, she landed in front of the hut, her heart pounding in excitement. Not bothering with knocking on the door, the girl entered and smiled at the sight of her sleeping sisters. Gently shaking one and then the other awake, she waited a moment for them to get their bearings before opening her arms as the both hugged her tightly. "I missed you two so much!"

"Oh, sweetness, we missed you too! It is too quiet without you." Margie spoke first as Maggie simply nodded and kissed Morrigan's temple. "Why are you here, though?"

"Yes, I actually do have a reason." Morrigan stated before sitting on Maggie's bed with her sisters joining her on either side. "Irish aurors, with my godfather's help, found the wards of our hut in Curraghchase."

"Good." Magdalene grinned sadistically.

Morrigan looked from Maggie to Margaret, who just smirked, in confusion. "Excuse me?"

"We are doing our part too, sweetness." Margaret smiled at her.

"By having aurors poke at our wards?!"

"Actually yes." Magdalene, the redhead of the trio answered. "We left a well hidden trail leading to the ward, once you left."

The blonde of the three grinned sheepishly at that admission before turning serious. "This is our way of announcing the return of the Covens. They can poke all they want, not even the best curse breaker they could hire would be able to break through our magic. They _might_ know what they are looking at but they never would know what to do with it."

"You can't know that!"

"Oh, but we can. No one outside of Covens knows Coven magic, silly." Maggie said, poking the teen witch against her forehead. "But, of course, we still took precautions, just in case."

Narrowing her eyes, Morrigan looked from Maggie to Margie. "Those precautions better be good. I don't want to worry about you while in that blasted school of theirs."

"Let's just say," Margaret began while rubbing her flat stomach with one hand, "if worse comes to worst history will just have to repeat itself…to an extend."

* * *

"Happy birthday!" Morrigan blearily opened her eyes at the loud voices, a glare firmly on her face.

"What?" She ground out between her teeth as she tried to sit up.

"It's your birthday today! Well, yours and Harry's."

"Ugh...thank you, I suppose..." She mumbled, feeling entirely uncomfortable about even the thought of thanking any of the Potters for anything, but appearences had to be kept up after all.

"Come on, sleepyhead. This year we are only celebrating between the four of us. It actually was Harry's idea."

That's...great. Let me get a shower and all and I'll be downstairs."

Grumbling under her breath, Morrigan got up from her bed after her father left her room. Back when she was still with Margaret and Magdalene they would wash themselves in the lakes close to or in the forests they lived in. They would also make their own scented oils to make their feminity more alluring. Here it was all...artificial. Water came out of a muggle contraption, scented oils were sold in dizzying numbers. It was all so foreign.

Now she also had to celebrate her birthday with them. It made her sad and she wondered what Maggie and Margie would have gotten her, were she still with them.

With a sigh she shut the water off and stepped out of the shower. It was time to play the birthday girl.

* * *

The day to go shopping for their books and other requirements for Hogwarts had finally come. Morrigan was waiting downstairs in the living room for her parents. Harry was toying around with his snitch while she was, as per usual, reading.

"Finally." The teen witch sighed when she heard hurried footsteps on the stairs.

"Sorry kids." James said as he held out the bowl with floo powder for everyone.

"No. I will not travel that way again." Morrigan refused when it was her turn. "I'll just teleport."

"It's illegal!" James groaned at her, tired of that discussion.

Snorting at that, the witch gave him smirk. "Only if they know." Without another word, she disappeared from the living room.

A moment later she reappeared in the alley between the shops she first found herself in when she left her sisters. Trying to jog her memory, she quickly made her way back to the pub, seeing her parents waiting for her with crossed arms and annoyed expressions while Harry was snickering silently.

"What? No one saw me."

"You still shouldn't just..." Lily glared at her, waving her arms wildly in agitation.

"Yes, yes, yes. Let's go shopping." Ignoring the exhasperated sighs behind her, she made her way towards the main shopping area before turning back to the adults. "Where do we go first?"

"Let's go get the robes first. Harry needs dress robes too this year, after all." Lily offered to which everyone readily agreed.

"We could go to Fortescue's." Her twin threw in. "Hermione and the Weasleys wanted to go get their school stuff today too."

"Alright then. Let's go get some ice cream." James smiled at his children while his wife lead on.

Morrigan listened without much interest in the conversation but she perked up at the mention of ice cream. While she lived with Margie and Maggie she usually would eat nothing but the game they killed and the fruits of the forests. Rarely her two sisters would go out to go and get her the icey treat and those rare occations would usually only consist of her birthday.

Still, she hung behind her family to not seem too eager at the prospect of getting ice cream.

Once they arrived at the ice cream parlour they all chose what they wanted, with Morrigan going for simple vanilla ice cream.

"Who's the young lady, if I may ask, Mr. Potter?" The owner spoke up.

James beamed at the man, as he pulled his daughter into an one-armed hug, ignoring her stiffening at the contact. "That's our daughter, Florean. We finally found her, but we really don't want to make a big scene about it. She isn't used to attention like that."

"I understand! I understand, my lips are sealed, though that's a happy thing, a family reunited again. The ice cream's on the house today for your family, Mr. Potter!"

"That's really not-"

"At least for your girl." The owner of the ice cream parlour insisted and her father finally relented.

"Thank you, sir." Morrigan added with a fake smile as she wondered if this whole magical community was nothing but a bunch of suck-ups to her family. She wondered what the Potters actually did for them to deserve this kind of respect from seemingly everyone they talked with. It was annoying, really.

After some more small talk between her parents and the owner of the parlour her brother finally spotted his friends and they could finally get going, but not before, of course, she was introduced to the Weasleys who seemed to be a financially unfortunate family. After she was told what the family's patriarch's work was she was not wondering about the 'why' anymore though.

 _A wife not working, a father with a completely useless job and four children in school? No wonder they have no money._

Soon into their shopping spree the two girls in the large group- meaning Hermione and the youngest Weasley, Ginevra- tried to chat her up and, while she indulged them a bit, she mostly let them have their conversation as she looked back and forth between the stores, trying to maybe find one that might be of interest to her. After they got their robes they passed an sign pointing towards a 'Knockturn Alley'.

"What is that?" She asked the group, curious about what kind of shops she might find there.

"Nothing good, sweety." James answered as Morrigan held her tongue about the pet name, not wanting to make a scene in the middle of Diagon Alley. "All you find there are evil people and very dark artifacts."

"How'd you grow up?" Ronald, their youngest son, suddenly asked and blushed at her confused glance. "Just saying, I mean you knew about magic right?"

"Yes...?"

"But you basically knew nothing about, you know, living like one..." The ginger boy ended with a mumble.

"Yes, well, my caretaker wasn't...let's say _too fond_ about the magical society, so she was more of a recluse who lived in various forests. She taught me basics about the society and culture of today and taught me spells and potions...it was a nice time, to be honest. I loved the nature."

"You miss her, don't you honey?" Lily asked sadly as Morrigan once again struggled to not blow up on them because of their very liberal use of pet names.

"Of course I miss her."

"But now you have your parents. It might be different to what you got used to but nothing can replace a parent's love for their child." Molly Weasley, the plump matriarch of the big family, threw in.

"Of course, Mrs. Weasley." Morrigan replied with another fake smile while thinking to herself just how much her 'parents' must have loved her to throw her away the way they did, not once in six years checking in on her.

The chatter about her life quickly dwindled again, much to her relief, once they reached the book store of this shopping alley, though Morrigan still was disappointed by its lack of real literature. From what she had experienced so far of this society, she was hugely disappointed that everything that ever had any relation to magic seemed to have just... _vanished_...at least all but waving around wands and weird sweets.

There were no books about rituals or other ancient magical practices, no shops selling ritual kits or any foci other than wands, not even the most simple and average of staffs.

Despite everything that happened to her, despite not knowing anything but torture and agony for six years, she couldn't help but say that she was luckiest of everyone here because living through all that abuse had her end up in Margaret's and Magdalene's arms and those two, those two women who adopted her, mothered her and became her sisters in mind and soul- those two opened her eyes and mind to the real magical world.

If she had grown up with the Potters she'd be just as narrow minded as every single one of the wizards and witches walking through Diagon Alley at this very moment.

And if she was completely honest...she already deaded finding out what that supposed school would be 'teaching' her, all the while selling it as magic.

* * *

"Are you aware that Ginevra fancies you?" Morrigan asked out of the blue during breakfast the day after they were shopping for their school supplies.

Harry's eyes just widened as he chocked on a sausage, his face reddening as his mother giggled while slapping him lightly on the back.

"What?!" He finally gasped out, glaring at her with teary eyes.

"It's obvious. I was just wondering if you were aware."

"It kind of is obvious, isn't it?" Lily kept giggling while glancing at her blushing son.

"Well, I don't like her that way." Harry muttered, his eyes on his breakfast.

"Why not?"

"She's Ron's little sister, to begin with..."

"And? Me being your sister didn't stop Ronald from staring at my breasts."

"What?!" "What?!"

Jerking back at the loud exclamations from both her brother and father, Morrigan looked at them in slight shock. "What? Can you blame him?"

James looked at his wife in utter bafflement before looking back at his daughter. "Yeah, I can!"

"Why?" Morrigan asked in honest confusion, while dantily cutting her own sausage. "He is a boy in the middle of puberty while I am a beautiful girl with beautiful breasts. I'd stare too if I were in his place."

"Sweety." James began but Morrigan held her hand up as she was still chewing, motioning for him to wait.

"No pet names."

" _Morrigan_." James sighed. "It is not right for boys to look at girls like that. It's disrespectful, you are not just a piece of meat."

"You didn't think that way when you kept staring at my breasts in our school years..." Lily muttered just loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Muuuum..." Harry groaned out before Morrigan talked up again.

"Yes, whatever, that wasn't what we were talking about anyways. So, Harry, when are you going to do something about this whole Ginevra situation?"

Her brother started to blush again. "Why do you even care?"

"I don't but it started to get annoying real quick, the way she kept looking at you every three seconds. Just give her what she wants and be done with it."

Harry glanced at his sister for a moment before muttering under his breath. "I'll remember to come to you whenever I need help to romance girls."

* * *

 **Irish:**

 _stair na draíochta ársa gairme- History of ancient gaelic magic_

 **Scottish Gaelic:**

 _Tha mise nam fear agad fhèin, peathraichean! Leig leam a dhol seachad. – I am one of yours, sisters! Let me pass._


	4. Hogwarts

**AN:** First things first and that's giving credit where it is due: this TriWi Tournament setup is from _Silently Watches'_ ' _Princess of the Blacks_ ' as will be some more stuff. It is their Black Princess/Queen saga that inspired this story after all.

Now this chapter wrote itself pretty nicely. As of now I also enjoy writing it which makes it so much easier of course. And, just so by the way, if anyone speaks Irish/Scottish Gaelic/Welsh and google translate messes anything up then please say so in reviews or PMs so I can clean it up.

As always, I hope you enjoy this chapter and leave a review. Any form of constructive criticism is absolutely welcome as there is always room to improve something.

 **WiccaHPTwilightLover:** Harry's surviving triggered the events of her abandonment in the first place. Besides Morrigan feels resentment towards him because she got beaten black and blue while he got to be famous and spoiled for simply not dying when he should have, so no, she won't give him a chance even if she plays nice with him for now. As for her traditions: no worries, not even torturing her would make her give up her traditions.

* * *

Dealing with Goblins never was a thing Sirius Black enjoyed doing. They were a vicious race, greedy and very cunning. If he had to put them into a Hogwarts house he would put them collectively in Slytherin.

When he asked the Goblins if he could borrow Bill Weasley for his expert opinion on the wards they found in Curraghchase they declined, much to his annoyance.

Ultimately they were forced to settle for a more unknown curse breaker and expert on warding and area enchantments but as long as she would do the trick and tell them just what exactly they were dealing with here he would be happy.

Leaning against a tree in the thick forest, he and a group of various other aurors were waiting patiently for the young Scotswoman to analyze their situation and come to a conclusion.

Sirius had to admit though that he could definitely deal with not having Bill's expertise here right now, considering that Aileen Buchanan was so much nicer to look at than Bill Weasley would have been.

"Mr. Black."

Perking up at the lovely way she pronounced his name with, he walked up to the young curse breaker. "Yes?"

"I've to admit…not once in my life I've seen anything like this." She turned around from her crouched position, toying with her wand in her hand as she worried her bottom lip, her brows furrowed in thought. "But something…would you please tell me again- with as much detail as possible- what happened to that auror who stepped through the ward?"

Shrugging, Sirius began to recite that moment that still gave him nightmares. "O'Byrne, a couple of his men and I were on our second day searching through the area since we had reasons to believe that around here some sort of sacrificial rituals were going on. At some point we found a small bone on the ground…to clean for it to be just remains of some prey animal, so we kept searching for more. We decided to split up. At some point one of the aurors called out that he found another one so we caught up with him. He kept looking for more and the moment he stepped through this area," Sirius pointed at the shoe imprint on the mud, "he just…disintegrated, layer after layer. Skin, muscles, bones…" He ended with a shudder. "In hindsight…it was an obvious trap."

There was a moment of silence as the Irish aurors thought of their lost friend. After a while, Aileen spoke up again. "Do you remember the area…this ward…reacting in any way?"

"I honestly can't tell you with certainty…I was…"

"Trust me, Mr. Black, I understand."

"Uh, Miss…?" The other auror who was with Sirius and O'Byrne that day raised his hand. "I…I'm not sure but…I mean, I was there too that day…it looked like the air kind of…rippled."

"Thank you!" The young curse breaker jumped up to her feet. "Anyone good with conjuring animals? Small rodents are enough, a rat or something."

Shrugging, a tall auror with slick blonde hair did as asked and conjured a rat for Aileen. Thanking the auror, she held onto the squirming rodent before motioning for the group of magical law enforcement to back off a bit. "Sorry buddy." She gave the rat an apologetic look before throwing it through the invisible barrier.

As Sirius described, the rat disintegrated layer after layer just before the air rippled.

"Huh." Aileen kept looking at where the rat vanished into nothingness.

"Looks to me like you got at least… _something_ out of this." O'Byrne commented as he walked up to stand next to Aileen and Sirius.

"You know…I've dealt with tombs in Egypt and Guatemala and even some out here on the islands and they were protected. They were protected through cursed artifacts, traps, wards and enchantments. But _this_ …" She looked around, taking in the looks of each and every auror, impatiently waiting to find out what exactly it was that killed one of theirs. "Ladies and gents…I'm very certain that we are standing right in front of a giant ritual circle slash ward."

Stunned silence followed, only interrupted by the sounds of the forest itself.

"So…" Sirius began, "what exactly…are you saying?"

"I am saying…that everything and everyone that steps into wherever this circle begins will be sacrificed…basically fed to the protection of whatever is beyond this barrier. Your friends death…strengthened this ward."

"Well fuck me sideways…" O'Byrne muttered into the murmuring of the aurors around him.

"As of now, I would not dare to touch that barrier by myself. I need to do a ton of research to even get an idea of its origin. I'd recommend your people to do some patrolling around here in case whoever set this thing up comes back. I'll ask for some more help from Gringotts so I can at least estimate the area this ritual circle covers. Can't have any more people stumble into this."

"Man…this is…" Sirius struggled for words.

"Black magic." Aileen ended for him. "No other description for this."

"No…there really isn't."

This case just turned into his biggest one yet.

* * *

The day had come. It was time to head to Hogwarts. Morrigan was not really excited about going to the famous school for witchcraft and wizardry. She knew all she needed to know and things she _wanted_ to know were not taught there. There were no such things like _vǫlur_ practices, evocation, necromancy or _ya sang_ taught.

Instead, students in Hogwarts learned about the Goblin wars and how to vanish hedgehogs. Where did the real magic go? Why was the magical society content with knowing one percent of what it meant to be a witch or a wizard?

She gave herself in the mirror one last look before heading downstairs to join the rest of her family. Their trunks were already downstairs in front of the fireplace and she shuddered at the thought of having to use floo once more.

"Are you excited for your first Hogwarts year?" James asked her.

Morrigan sat down on the couch as they waited for her brother to get ready. Unlike him, she prepared everything before going to sleep. "To be honest, not really. I looked through the school books and I already know most of everything in it."

"Be that as it may, it will still be a great experience to you. I'm sure you will make lots of friends."

Refraining from rolling her eyes at his attempts of selling the perks of going to that school to her, she merely shrugged. "We'll see."

"Looks like Harry and your mum are finally ready." James commented with a grin when he saw Harry jogging down the stairs as Lily was still scolding him for making them all be late. "I assume we can all finally head out?"

With a final glare at her son, his wife gave a sharp nod. "Yes, _finally_."

"Morrigan, you go first. Then Lily, then Harry and then me. Keep a firm grip on your trunk!"

Frowning, the teen witch took a pinch of the powder and braced herself once she was ready to step into the fire.

After a few moments of spiraling and dizziness she finally arrived at her destination and could step out of that death trap. Soon enough the rest of the Potters stepped out of the fire as she was still busy cleaning the soot off her clothes.

The family of four made its way away from the floo and for the first time Morrigan set eyes on the infamous Hogwarts Express.

"Explain to me why we have to board a mundane contraption to travel for hours to a magical locations when we have magical means that would be so much faster?" Morrigan asked with a sarcastic grin, which only widened when she heard the audible sigh coming from her father.

"Let's just go and find the Weasleys."

It didn't take them long to spot the ginger family and after a few moments of greeting each other a compartment was quickly found and their luggage quickly stored away.

Not really wanting to, but for appearances sake, Morrigan followed her brother outside to say goodbye to her parents. Enduring hugs and even kisses, she was glad when it finally was over.

A short wave of her hand later she quickly entered the train and then the compartment, pulling out a book to read and lose herself in.

She ignored her brother and his friends entering, concentrating on the book she was reading. Hermione, as curious as she was, couldn't leave her alone for long, though.

"What are you reading?" The bushy-haired witch asked.

" _Y gwir y tu ôl i Cyrridven_. The truth behind Cerridwen."

"Never heard of that. What is it about?"

Closing her book and looking up, Morrigan crossed one leg over the other before placing the book on her lap. "It is about the witch Cerridwen of a Welsh medieval legend who gave birth to a beautiful daughter and an hideous son. Cerridwen's husband was Tegid Foel who is associated with _Llyn Tegid_ , which would be Bala Lake in English, in Gwynedd, Wales. So, Tegid Foel could have been some sort of water deity, considering his name is part of _LLyn Tegid_ , which begs the question why Cerridwen's son was so ugly while her daughter was supposedly this radiant beauty. This book is supposed to be an investigation of that question from a wizard of that time."

"And that's interesting because…?" Ron asked, giving her a look as if she just grew a second head.

"Because it is curious how a beautiful sorceress and a potential god could ever give birth to a child that people would call _Afagddu_."

"What does that mean?" Her brother asked her.

"Utter darkness. Morfran- that was Cerridwen's son's actual name- supposedly had an unnaturally dark skin coloring and was hideously ugly, two things that can't happen when you are beautiful yourself and bear the child of a god."

"You actually believe this story? It's just some kind of folklore, isn't it?"

Giving Hermione a sharp smile for that comment, Morrigan still kept her voice even. "Sorcery and witchcraft became real for you, didn't it?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"Hermione…every folklore, every myth, _everything_ began from something. I bet you didn't believe in dragons and werewolves, yet they are very real. Tegin Foel doesn't have to be a god in the end, but I want to know who or what Cerridwen really was that would result in two children being so different from each other, especially considering that said differences also seem to be related to their sexes."

"Sorry, I didn't mean anything by it."

"I know you didn't." With that, Morrigan returned to her book, glad that she thought about taking it with her as her brother and his friends returned to talking about their exciting time at this Quidditch finale thing that apparently was ambushed by a group of loyalists of the last Dark Lord, though she didn't pay much attention to the whole thing as it kept her mother off her back for a while since she was doting more on her brother when he returned.

But as long as it kept the group from asking where she got her book from they could talk about whatever they wanted.

* * *

Finally, after a lot of hours, they arrived at Hogsmeade. Stepping out of the train, Morrigan kept ignoring the curious looks she had been receiving since on she arrived on platform 9 ¾ with the Potters.

Hearing her brother greet someone by the lake, she was startled to see who it was. "That is at least an half giant."

"What?" Harry asked her, eyebrows high.

"That man you just greeted. Half giant, at least."

"Why would you say that?" Hermione gasped at her, her eyes darting around to make sure no one overheard.

"What? I was just saying." Morrigan soon gasped in delight as she rushed towards the carriages. "This school has thestrals?" Reaching out with a hand, she started to pet ones flank, smilling brilliantly all the while.

"What are you talking about? You are petting empty air." Ginevra commented before getting in one of the carriages.

"You can't see them of course. You need to have seen death in one form or another to see thestrals. For example, seeing someone die does the trick."

"Oh…I'm sorry." The Weasley girl muttered sheepishly as Morrigan sat next to her. "Who'd you see die? You don't have to answer of course."

 _So, so many people._ "My caretaker."

"Sorry to hear that."

Morrigan just dismissed the apology with a wave of her hand as the thestral pulled its carriage towards the castle. The Coven witch had to admit that the castle was indeed as impressive a sight as she was told.

After a few minutes they arrived at the castle's gate and got off their carriages. Upon entering, they were greeted by the deputy headmistress McGonagall.

"Ms. Potter. A word."

Morrigan made her way to the elder woman, all the while rolling her eyes at the excited whispers her name immediately generated. "Yes, Professor?" She asked once standing in front of McGonagall.

"Usually the sorting ceremony would be held directly after the headmaster's speech but considering your unique situation it has been decided that first you will be sorted and then the first years will be called in."

"I understand."

"Good. Wait here until you will be called in."

Left alone, as all the other students had already entered the hall, she waited for a few minutes until finally she heard her name be called. Entering the Great Hall, she looked at the ceiling as she had been told that it was enchanted. It truly did look amazing.

Her walk towards the stool with the ragged looking hat on it was accompanied by whispers and even someone wolf whistling at her which made her smirk.

Looking at the high table she saw her future teachers, all of whom looked at her with great interest. The headmaster, the infamous Albus Dumbledore, in particular seemed to follow her every move and she remembered how close her family was with him. She wondered how much her parents had told him about her.

Once reaching the stool, she looked at the Sorting Hat. "So I just sit down and put it on?"

"Yes." McGonagall answered with a small smile.

Doing as was expected of her, she picked the hat up, sat down on the stool and put it on, her legs crossed.

Suddenly a voice in her head spoke up. "My, my. You have had to go through a lot."

 _Tell me something I don't know. I assume you are the hat?_

"Indeed I am and you did a lot of…questionable things."

 _If people hear what you are saying I will burn you._

"And what a temper you have! All we are talking about is happening in your head."

 _So, if there's a point to all of this can we get on with it?_

"And so impatient! But you are also very smart, an unquenchable thirst for knowledge so very evident."

 _Yawn._

"Where to put you? Even as a Potter, you would have no problems surviving Slytherin. But it probably would still be smarter to place you in RAVENCLAW!"

The last word was yelled out and soon she made her way to the appropriate table, accompanied by students applauding. Not giving her brother's table even a glance, Morrigan quickly sat down next an Indian girl who greeted her with a friendly smile which she returned with a nod.

From now on this seemed to be where she would spend most of he time, with these students.

 _At least I didn't get sorted into the house of dimwits._

Following her sorting, it was time for the first years to be put into their respective houses. She followed that traditional event only with moderate interest and opted to instead take in the Great Hall in its entirety.

She found it pretty telling that both the Gryffindor and Slytherin tables were at the far ends of the hall as she was aware of the rivalry going on between the houses. Personally, she found it ridiculous and wondered why a bunch of students would carry on with the quarrel of the houses founders.

That she was sorted to Ravenclaw was probably even a blessing; she could simply stay out of the way of either house, though her last name would probably still drag her in somehow.

As the last of the first years was finally sorted, Morrigan was happy to finally be able to eat after the headmaster opened the feast.

Astonished at the sheer amount and variety of food offered, the young witch decided to just not think about what she was eating and loaded her plate with a bit of everything within her reach.

"So…Morrigan, right?" A blonde boy to her left began. "My name's Anthony Goldstein."

"Yes and it's a pleasure."

"Y'know, no one even heard anything of the Potters finding you."

Shrugging, Morrigan swallowed her bite before answering. "It was more like me finding them and I prefer people not making a big deal out of it."

"I, uh…I saw one of the missing posters, you know…and your name…"

"Ah, yes. I figured my name would confuse you. The lady who raised me gave me the name and, well, I accepted it."

"Didn't you…you know, tell her you already had a name?"

"I liked it so I didn't see a reason to correct her."

"Heh. Fair enough."

"Do you mind me asking where you grew up? I mean you were _missing_!" The Indian girl to Morrigan's right piped in. "My name's Padma Patil, by the way."

"I don't mind. My caretaker and I travelled a lot through the islands…Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England…we were always in forests, though I didn't really mind. I loved the nature and lakes."

"Wow, that actually sounds…nice."

Chuckling at Padma's confused expression, Morrigan finished off her plate and took a sip of her drink and immediately spat it back into the goblet. "Disgusting!" Annoyed, she put the goblet back on the table only to see it vanish and be replaced by one with plain water. "Now…that's better." Again, Morrigan took a sip, this time though she swallowed before turning her attention back to the Indian girl. "I actually did have a great time with my caretaker. I was happy. I doubt I would have sought out my family if she hadn't died. I had no reason to leave for as long as she was alive."

Before Padma could speak again, the headmaster rose from his seat, effectively silencing the chatter of the students. "Now that our bellies are sated and our thirst is quenched, it is time for the usual notices."

Morrigan quickly tuned him out and instead started to pick at her fingernails, passing the time of the headmaster naming every single banned artifact.

"I also have the painful duty to inform you that this year there will be no Quidditch Cup."

Morrigan's eyebrows rose high upon the reaction in the Hall. It was stunned silence and one could hear their own breaths.

 _What is it with these people and that ridiculous sport?_

"In its stead, we will host an event over the entirety of the year, starting in October. With great pleasure I-"

It was then a loud crack rang through the hall, followed by the hall's doors crashing open. A heavily scarred old man entered and Morrigan's eyes were immediately drawn to his obviously artificial eye. It seemed to stare in every direction at once. It probably was of magical origin.

"Allow me to introduce your new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher: Professor Alastor Moody."

There wasn't much of any clapping happening aside from the headmaster and the odd student, which too ceased quickly.

"Now, as I was saying," Dumbledore returned to his earlier announcement, "our school will have the honor of hosting an event which has not been held in over a century: the Triwizard Tournament."

The hall erupted in excited chatter and one somewhere she even heard a shout that the headmaster had to be joking, which was quickly denied by him.

Morrigan quickly drifted off again as the headmaster dove into a lengthy explanation of the tournament's history and rules. Crossing one leg over the other, she started to bob one foot up and down as she returned to examine her fingernails again before her attention was drawn back to the headmaster.

"… _but_ , to make this tournament more approachable for the younger students it was decided to change traditions just a little bit," he continued. "This year's Triwizard Tournament will allow a total of six students to participate: three seniors and three juniors."

Again, the hall was abuzz with excited chatter between the students and the headmaster had to clap his hands several times to calm the students down. "Each school will have one junior and one senior champion. The seniors have to be of age, meaning seventeen or older while the juniors have to be between the ages of fourteen and sixteen. The juniors will face the same tasks as the seniors but with get additional help to compensate for their lack of experience for difficulties they may not yet have been prepared for."

Already there were people ready and willing to participate in that tournament and Morrigan had to roll her eyes. She would bet both her hands that least ninety percent of all those eligible to become Hogwarts' champion would not even survive the preparations for the first task.

"I personally will ensure that no student even tries to cheat themselves into this tournament in any way. Our guests from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and we will show them our hospitality for most of the rest of this year. Please show them that you are as welcoming and helpful to our foreign guests as we all expect you to be."

"What is the prize?" One of the Weasley twins shouted.

"Ah, yes, I seem to have forgotten that little detail. The winning school's champions get the Triwizard Cup and One Thousand galleons each."

 _And glory._

* * *

The next day came fairly quick. As smart as they supposedly were, the Ravenclaw students were in the end still children who rose in ignorance to what magic really could do. Their smarts was still reduced to knowing what this school sold as magic. All they knew was, in the end, what they were allowed to know.

It was sad.

Getting up from her bed, the teen quickly finished off her morning routine before picking up her school bag and leaving the Common Room.

Her head of house, a half Goblin as one of her new housemates told her, had a small chat with her as he accompanied her to the common room about what was expected of Ravenclaws and about a few rules in general.

Most of it was just about what she expected so she listened only with half an ear.

Now, upon reaching the Great Hall, she quickly sat down to start her breakfast. If there was one thing she _had_ to like about this school, then it probably would be the food.

"Mornin'…"

Looking up from her breakfast, Morrigan spotted a dark haired boy plopping down next to her, his eyes still swollen from sleep.

"I take it you are not a morning person?"

"Ugh, no…not really. 'm Michael Corner." He mumbled, holding out a hand.

Taking it, she couldn't help but smirk a bit. "Morrigan Potter, though you probably knew the Potter- part. Say, Michael, when do we get our timetables? Professor Flitwick said it would be at- never mind," Morrigan chuckled as their timetables just appeared at the end of the table, organized in stacks for each year and then again in stacks for the electable classes.

Getting up once she finished her breakfast, she went to the timetables, taking one for her year and her elected Runes and Arithmancy classes.

The first class being Potions seemed like a good start to the day for Morrigan. She always enjoyed brewing with Margaret and Magdalene and she basically knew the properties of any ingredient for any potion by heart.

During class she didn't bother reading the steps that were on the blackboard, as she had brewn many antidotes before.

Halfway through class, Professor Snape, a sour looking man with greasy black hair, stood next to her cauldron and watched as she was flattening mistletoe berries before dicing them.

"Ms. Potter, can you read?"

Looking at her Professor, she gave him a nod. "Indeed I can."

"Then how come you thought it necessary to do something that is not mentioned in the steps on the blackboard?"

Giving him a surprised look, she read the instructions on the blackboard before looking back at the Professor. "The counteracting properties against poisons and venoms from mistletoe berries stems from its pulp and juices and to get the maximum effect out of both I flattened and diced them before adding them to the cauldron instead of just adding them whole."

The Professor gave her a long hard look before leaving her alone. "One point for Ravenclaw…because you can think for yourself. At least one of the Potter children isn't a complete airhead…"

"This must be the first time in history Snape ever gave another house any points at all, do you know that?" Lisa Turpin whispered to her with wide eyes.

"Now I do."

* * *

Their next class was DADA, which the Ravenclaws had together with the Gryffindors. Her brother supposedly excelled in this class but from what she had gathered about previous teachers- one of whom was a werewolf of all things!- it didn't really say much.

Once they arrived in front of the class she saw her brother wave at her which she replied with a forced smile. He wouldn't leave her be though.

"How was your first class?" He asked as she was about to pass him.

"It was easy, as expected. And apparently I am the first non-Slytherin to ever receive points from Professor Snape, so there's that for excitement."

"You…what?" Ronald Weasley blinked at her. "That's impossible!"

"It's true, Weasley." Morag MacDougal confirmed. "He also said something about not both Potters being complete airheads."

"That bloody-" Harry began but he was interrupted by the door to the classroom opening.

The students quickly sat themselves down with their housemates with Gryffindors choosing the far end of the classroom as Ravenclaws remained at the door end.

The class quickly became pretty obscene for Hogwarts' standards as the former auror appeared to be as paranoid as Morrigan was told he was.

"There are a lot of curses, hexes and jinxes someone can use to harm you. Only three though are so bad…so dark…it was decided that even a single use of those means a lifetime in Azkaban. Who can name one?"

Morrigan, deciding that some classes might not be so boring after all, raised her hand immediately. "Ah yes, the lost Potter girl. So tell us then, which of the unforgivable curses do you have in mind?"

"While I have never been taught the names I know the effects if that's alright with you." Indicating with his hand that she should continue, Morrigan did just so. "One gives the possibility of command over another person though it is never guaranteed to work. If the victims willpower is strong enough they might be able to break the curse."

"Ten points for Ravenclaw. Good description, weakness included. What Ms. Potter described is the _Imperius Curse_. After Voldemort's fall a lot of his cronies claimed to have been under the curse, lying themselves out of Azkaban. As Ms. Potter said, _if_ the victim has strong enough willpower they can break out of the curse but if not…"

The Professor pulled a glass case with three spiders in them from under his desk and removed a spider from it, placing it on his desk. With amusement Morrigan saw her brother's ginger sidekick paling rapidly before she returned her attention back to the Professor. Of course she knew what the curse did as she had used it so many times. It just made abducting victims for their rituals so much easier if they followed them voluntarily.

Soon enough the Professor Moody had the spider dance which made the class laugh but that laughter died quickly when he made the spider drown itself in a glass of water.

 _At least this Moody person knows how to make classes somewhat interesting._


	5. Interlude

**AN:** Hello, dear readers! Another chapter has arrived for this. Admittedly this one was kind of hard to write but still went out okay. I hope you enjoy it, despite not a lot happening. It's more of an interlude.

 **naruto:** Thanks for the review! As for her scars: sorry but no. She could have had them removed long ago but she doesn't want to…at least not yet. They are a reminder for her of what she endured and survived. Aside from that though she has no health problems whatsoever. She lived for years with Magdalene and Margaret who took great care of her and showered her with love and affection.

 **urbanmanatee:** Thank you! In case you look for a similar AU I would suggest you check out Silently Watches' 'Black Princess' series. As stated in my ANs several times, my story is _heavily_ inspired by that series.

 **YuukiAsuna-Chan:** Thank you!

 **nibashmangang:** Thanks I think?

* * *

It was a cold and wet Sunday in mid-September when Sirius finally found himself with a bit of free time on his hands. After Aileen Buchanan gave them her theory of what exactly they were dealing with in Curraghchase, the past couple weeks were extremely stressful; not because they had tons of things to do but more because they couldn't do anything for now.

The Goblins ordered another two of their curse breakers to help Aileen estimate the size of the ward and to analyze it some more to get a better idea of its nature and origin.

They managed to at least estimate its size. It turned out to be _big_.

For now, though, he had a free day to enjoy. Taking a sip from his firewhisky he leaned back into the comfortably couch of the Potter's living room, letting out a deep and blissful sigh.

"Man, I needed this free day."

"How are things going in Ireland?" James asked once he sat down next to his best friend.

Looking at James, Sirius gave him a wry grin. "You are damn lucky that Bones sent me there and not you. There is something so…messed up going on…"

"What do you mean?" Lily asked once she joined the two men in the living room. "And Remus said he'll join us a couple hours later." She added before handing her husband the letter the werewolf sent.

"The curse breaker Gringotts sent us believes it is some sort of ritual circle or ward or both. One of the Irish aurors accidentally stepped through the day I got there- I wanted to scout through the forest a bit- and he was fed to strengthen the ward…or so she said."

With eyes wide both Potters looked at him, their shock obvious. "That's…" Lily was at a loss for words.

"And that thing is huge…I honestly have no idea what whoever did it could be hiding behind that ward. I mean…if you create such a thing…"

"I'm almost tempted to say that you should just leave it alone. Whatever is there, it can't be good."

Chuckling without humor at his best friend's comment, Sirius took another sip from his whiskey, enjoying the warmth it spread through his body. "Trust me, I'm not keen on finding it out myself but what can you do? Enough of that, though. How's things going with my goddaughter?"

"She's…confrontational." Lily answered with a sigh. "I wish things were easier."

Chuckling, James threw an arm over his wife's shoulder, pulling her closer to his side. "Yeah, well, we all knew it would be hard. Just give it time."

"A big mistake was done back then, we all knew that. She suffered the consequences." Sirius threw in. From the day she was born, little Violet- or Morrigan, as she apparently was named in her time away- had him wrapped around her chubby little finger and he was heartbroken when she was given to the Dursley's but he understood the reasoning. He should have- they all should have- known better but Lily and her sister were on their way to consolation, or so they thought. They were all blind to just how deeply the bitterness of Petunia was running. "I don't blame her, honestly. Every small step of hers that shows even the smallest amount of forgiveness should be a win for us."

"I know, I know." Lily's shoulders slumped. "It's just so…frustrating at times."

Sirius gave her a sympathetic smile but didn't say much else. There really wasn't much to say after all. They made a big mistake, a _monumental_ mistake that ruined a little girl's childhood. Now they had to try and fix something that seemed unfixable.

* * *

A fresh breeze announced the slowly but surely cooling weather as the students of Hogwarts soaked up the last bits of warmth this year had to provide.

Morrigan herself let her feet dangle into the water of Hogwarts' lake as she leaned against her full bag while continuing to read the book she started on her way here in the Express.

Her life in the castle was as she expected it to be: boring. Very little- if anything at all- was challenging to her. The students in this school learnt the barest bones of what magic and witchcraft could really do and it really bothered her to the core. How could those adults live with themselves, knowing that they basically _murdered_ the very culture they should uphold and revere, they should pass on to the coming generations? Instead they perverted everything by allowing mundane holidays to infest something as sacred as Yule and Samhain.

Maggie and Margie better made sure to show her their gratitude, considering all those things she already had to put up with.

It wouldn't end soon, either. She had to establish herself into this society first, to become somebody first. How she would go about that though was another question but time was on her- _their_ \- side. A ritual she learned about early was the secret to Maggie's and Margie's young appearance. Despite their age, which was around a hundred years old, they looked as if they were in their early twenties. They would sacrifice young women annually to keep themselves young. A Philosopher's Stone was all good and well but ultimately too much work and too unreliable in its creation. She was told that one existed until not too long ago but its creation was more a coincidence and a repeat of it always failed. The rituals always worked- if you knew what you were doing- so there was no reason to turn away from it.

Closing her book and dropping it next to her, Morrigan pushed her bag away from behind her before lying fully on the grass and stretching. It wasn't home but it was the closest she could get; the feeling and smell of grass and soil right under her.

Small familiarities like this were like slices of bliss to her and without them she would probably quickly lose her mind.

Packing up her things, Morrigan made her way back into the castle as lunch was about to be served. With some of her fellow Ravenclaws she got along fine enough but there wasn't really much effort put into making friends from her side. It wasn't because she had some major animosity against anyone in this school aside from her brother, which she couldn't act out on yet; it simply was the fact that ultimately any friendships she made here were doomed to be broken in the end. From what she could gather the vast majority of the student body were followers of Dumbledore's. The Slytherins seemed to be the only ones not blindly following every single word leaving the Headmaster's mouth but then again, the majority of _those_ seemed to be fanatic blood purists which wasn't great either. While she personally wasn't fond of the mundane it didn't mean that she wanted to commit genocide against them. She just didn't care much either way about them or their culture.

Once she reached the Great Hall the young witch made her way straight to the Ravenclaw table before sitting down and filling her plate up with a variety of food. Most of the students usually skipped lunch, preferring to get a head start on homework so their weekend would consist of more relaxing and less studying, giving Morrigan some peace and quiet when eating.

As she was enjoying her food- the one thing she really enjoyed about this school- she let her eyes wander through the Great Hall, a habit she picked up from her first day since she arrived here. It was utterly fascinating to her just how divided this school was, both in its color scheme for each house and in the way it spread its student body.

When Margaret told her about how the young girls in covens were taught in the coven ways she mourned everything she had missed. It was all about community and belonging and family.

She of course could understand that the school honored the ideologies, traits and the fundaments set by its founders and she respected that. It had been the tradition and the pillar upon which this school was founded and what made it what it was; she respected that. It simply was not something she liked. Their probably could have been better ways to honor the founders and their ideas.

After she was done eating she wanted to get up and see what the school's library looked like as she was preoccupied with finishing her own book when she was stopped by a young student.

"Excuse me, Professor Dumbledore asked me to tell you to go to his office and to give you this."

"Thank you." She opened the slip of parchment and could only raise both eyebrows at the message.

She turned around to the footsteps behind her and sighed internally. "What is it?"

"Hey, did you also get a message from Dumbledore?" Her brother asked her, slightly out of breath. "I know where his office is, come on."

At least she wouldn't have to search for it. "Why does he feel the need to inform me about candy he likes?"

"Yeah, his password's always some candy. So Fizzing Whizbee is his password."

On their way there she half listened to her Brother ranting about classes and whatnot, wondering about what reason the headmaster could have to invite her to his office. Undoubtedly it wouldn't be anything majorly important.

Soon enough they reached a stairwell guarded by an ugly gargoyle statue made of stone. Once Harry said the password it looked up and stepped to the side, revealing a circular staircase which then lead to a door. Harry knocked and once they were called in opened it.

Morrigan looked around, eyeing the magical portraits of several sleeping personalities of which she assumed that they were former headmasters. Various shelves with books and other things caught her eyes until they landed on a bird with crimson and golden feathers, staring at her. "A phoenix?" Morrigan asked with a low voice. She had heard of those mystical and elusive animals; who hadn't?

Magdalene said that she saw one once, had it sit on her shoulder and it allowed her to pet it for a short time before it departed.

Morrigan always wanted to see one for herself and now here one was, right in front of her. She walked up to it and reached out a hand. "May I touch you?"

It gave a short chirp and lowered its head for her and she wasted no time, touching the feathers of such a magnificent creature.

"Thank you," she whispered to it before returning her attention back to the other two in the room.

"I see you have taken a liking to my familiar, Fawkes. Please take a seat, Miss Potter. You too, Harry."

Morrigan, after her excitement of seeing a phoenix had subsided some, eyed the headmaster warily. She took her seat and waited for him to begin; he asked for her to come see him after all.

A short few moments later, he finally took the initiative of this meeting. "How have you been settling in, Miss Potter?"

"Well enough."

"Do you have any problems in any classes?"

"Not that I know of. They are all incredibly easy."

The headmaster continued a few moments later. "I have been told by some of the teaching staff that you seem…disinterested."

"Bored would probably be more accurate," Morrigan replied immediately, "but then there is history class, which really is not interesting at all."

"And why would that be, Miss Potter? I would like to think that all classes are interesting," Dumbledore replied with a lighthearted smile.

"Well, from what I have been told that spirit teaching the class has mainly consisted of the goblin rebellions, which, frankly, is appalling considering how rich the history of the magical society is. Oh, and apparently at some point there was also something about a soap blizzard. Exciting." Morrigan didn't bother hiding her sarcasm. "Anyways, I doubt I was called here to discuss the curriculum of your school. And I'm curious about the reason of my brother's presence here."

"I thought, maybe you could use some moral support while we discuss some things."

The young coven witch glanced at her brother, who smiled at her encouragingly, from the corner of her eyes. "I see. And what things would you like to discuss, headmaster?"

"I talked to your parents about your situation," Dumbledore began, "and some things piqued my curiosity. I have heard a lot about the witch who raised you."

"What about her? She was a good woman who loved me and cared for me when others abandoned me."

"Mum and dad didn't-"

"Shut it, Harry. There's no other word for it." Morrigan glared at her brother before returning her attention back to the headmaster.

"Now, now, there's no need for that." Dumbledore gave the two young siblings a grandfatherly smile. "Violet-"

"It's Morrigan. I'm sure my mother told you that, too."

" _Morrigan_. Named after the shapeshifting Irish phantom queen. Interesting choice, I must say." He waited for the young witch to react but she didn't. "I would like to know more about your caretake, if you don't mind."

"Like what?"

"Anything at all would be fine by me." The headmaster leaned slightly forward, putting his elbows on his desk and folding his hands before he rested his chin on them.

"She was a witch who taught me everything I know. She was traditionalistic. She didn't like today's magical society. There's really nothing more to her. She was as ordinary as you and me."

It was then that she felt the faintest of probes against her mental barriers, causing her to widen her eyes slightly before she narrowed them. "If there's nothing else, I would take my leave and start doing my homework."

Without waiting for a response, Morrigan got up from her chair and left the office, the realization of the danger posed by the headmaster firmly etched into her mind.

Xxx

"Ah, Aileen, my favorite curse breaker. Always at work."

"Mr. Black. I see you are busy as ever staring at my backside." The young woman looked over her shoulder, rolling her eyes but still not able to hide her smirk, at the auror's antics. He was a womanizer, sure, but she would lie if she said that his charms didn't work on her.

She focused her attention back to the gigantic tome on the ground, taking notes as she was leafing through different sections of ward and ritual descriptions.

There were so many complex schematics of the most disturbing magics she had ever lain eyes on but she still could not make any sense of the ward right in front of her. The sheer size of it was still absolutely baffling to her; the skill and precision at work here blowing the Scotswoman's mind.

"So," Sirius began as he sat down next to the curse breaker, "any closer to unraveling this mystery ritual thing?"

"Unfortunately, no." She combed her fingers through her long, blonde hair. "I'm sure I am right. I mean…a ward prevents you from stepping into a certain area, right?"

"Right."

"So, this auror couldn't step into a certain area; the ward didn't allow it. The air rippled, like certain kind of wards- illegal ones- do when they react. Those wards usually immobilize you, outright kill you or banish you. Wards we use today just alarm us, prevent us from apparating in or out or give muggles the compulsion to go somewhere else; really basic and harmless stuff."

Sirius listened intently at the woman, finding her analysis incredibly interesting. "So, this would be an immobilizing ward, right?"

"Most likely…I mean the way you described it and the way the rat just…you know…if they would just die, they would drop as if hit by the killing curse. They weren't banished either, or they wouldn't just disappear whole. The ritual just reacted so quickly, so immediately…"

"What if it's just a ritual?"

"No, no. That can't be right. If it was just a ritual then the ground, the ritual circle would react. The ritual and the ward, they are connected to each other. Whoever did this…they've delved into magics way, way deeper than we can even begin to understand, Mr. Black."

They both went silent, staring at the seemingly harmless forest ground in front of them, at a loss about what to do.

* * *

A raven flew over the school ground, enjoying the cool breeze and soaking up the feeling of freedom. After some time, it changed its direction and left the wards of Hogwarts and flew past Hogsmeade before landing on empty land, changing into a teenager.

Morrigan stretched for a moment before concentrating and teleporting herself to Ariundle Forest. Once she found herself surrounded by the familiar trees, she knelt on the ground as she did not too long ago, introducing herself to the ward with her blood so she could pass.

Flying for a bit, she quickly found her destination and landed in front of the hut of her family, her _real_ family and entered, finding both women sleeping.

Once more she woke them up, startling them but that quickly passed as she found herself surrounded by to pairs of arms.

"What are you doing here, sweetness?" Margaret asked as she got up, preparing the teenager a cup of tea.

"Being in that school is unbearable, Margie. I am bored out of my mind, I learn absolutely nothing. The magical society is more mundane than magic. The history lesson is an utter farce."

"But you must see it through, sweetness," Magdalene threw in, running her hand through Morrigan's thick black hair as the teen leaned her head against the woman's shoulder.

"I know…I will, I promise, but sometimes I just need to get away from there…"

Magdalene and Margaret gave each other sad looks, understanding where their youngest was coming from. It wasn't much different for them when they were sent away by their mothers, sent into hiding as they felt every single death of their coven.

It was a horrible time for them, being alone and everything they knew being taken from them.

It certainly wasn't the exact same thing Morrigan went through and they knew it as did she, but staying somewhere so foreign from what she knew, into the den of their enemies and experiencing the brainwashing the children there went through without even knowing it; they could understand how harrowing it probably was for the young girl.

At least, though…at least Morrigan had somewhere to turn to, at least Morrigan had them. At least Morrigan had her family.


End file.
